Catch Me if You Can
by Csillan.Rose
Summary: Obi Wan is always complaining about Anakin's misconduct, but what was Obi Wan like as a child? Follow Qui Gon as he attempts to keep up with the young padawan's antics...
1. Prologue

(A/N: Hello everyone! My name is Hilary, and this is my first Star-Wars fic. I've been reading them for a while, but I never actually wrote one. This chapter, because it is the prologue, is extremely short. Don't worry, the following chapters will be longer:)

**Disclaimer: **Obviously, as my name isn't George Lucas, hardly anything in this story belongs to me.

**Summary: **Obi-Wan is always complaining about Anakin's misconduct, but what was Obi-Wan like as a child?

Enjoy!

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****Prologue**

Qui-Gon Jinn carefully held the little bundle in his arms. This was his least favorite part of his job… taking a baby away from its parents just seemed, well, _cruel_. Still, he supposed it had to be done; otherwise there wouldn't be any Jedi.

This baby was peculiar, though… most of the time they cried for hours after being taken away from their parents. Well, if they were conscious—it was easiest if they were asleep. This baby in particular, however, was wide awake, and really didn't seem to mind. He wasn't making any fuss at all… he just looked a little bit curious about what was going on.

"Good little boy, isn't he?" Wuh'lin, his fellow Jedi, said with a smile. Wuh'lin was a Twi'lek, and one of the older Jedi.

Qui-Gon nodded thoughtfully. "It's a little bit odd, actually…" he gently pulled back the blanket just to make sure that the baby hadn't died. Wouldn't that have been horrible! Qui-Gon was sure that he would never live it down.

But no, the baby was perfectly fine. It gazed up at him with big, calm blue eyes and he could almost swear that the baby smiled.

"What's his name?" Wuh'lin inquired curiously.

Qui-Gon shook his head, "The family actually hadn't named him yet. I think they were still trying to come up with one. Their surname was Kenobi."

"No name, eh? Well, _we'll_ just have to name him, then. How about… Fabian?"

There was a pause as Qui-Gon stopped and stared at Wuh'lin. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

"Well, no. What's wrong with Fabian?"

"_Fabian Kenobi?_ I wouldn't do that to the poor kid."

They walked on in silence towards their ship for a while. "So, what _would_ you name him?" Wuh'lin asked at last.

Qui-Gon thought about it for several moments before saying, "How about Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan Kenobi… it has a ring to it…"

"You're kidding, right?"

Qui-Gon looked over at Wuh'lin and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with Obi-Wan?"

His fellow Jedi just shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. It's up to you."

"Well then, Obi-Wan it is."

Wuh'lin stopped and just watched Qui-Gon walk towards the ship for a while. Then he shook his head and muttered quietly so that his comrade didn't hear, "And he thought _Fabian_ was bad."

"I heard that!" Qui-Gon shouted over his shoulder.

Wuh'lin grinned and picked up the pace to catch up. "Well, it's true. I mean, Obi-Wan? Where did you come up with _that_? Poor kid. He _is_ a good little thing, though. Hasn't made a single peep the entire time."

"Maybe it's just because I'm good with kids." Qui-Gon suggested, placing a foot onto the ramp to enter the ship.

Almost instantly, Obi-Wan started wailing loudly. Wuh'lin burst into laughter, "Well, so much for that theory! I wonder what's gotten into him?"

"I don't know." Qui-Gon removed his foot from the ramp to stand beside the Twi'lek, and Obi-Wan stopped mid-wail. The Jedi glanced at each other, and then Wuh'lin started laughing again.

Qui-Gon sighed and turned back, then started up the ramp again. Immediately Obi-Wan began bawling even louder than he had been before. The further that the Jedi went up the ramp, the louder that the baby got. Finally Qui-Gon stopped and turned around, then headed back down the ramp. Obi-Wan stopped crying.

By now Wuh'lin was laughing so hard that there were tears running down his face. "Something tells me this is going to be an interesting flight. Maybe the kid just doesn't like the ship."

"Or he doesn't like flying." Qui-Gon added, "I really hope this isn't a premonition of what is to come."

xxxxx

Obi-Wan cried loudly and incessantly the entire way back to the Jedi Temple. It was so obnoxious that Wuh'lin had gone to the back of the ship to escape from it, and Qui-Gon had stuffed cotton in his ears to muffle the sound. The cotton wasn't working, though, and he could feel a headache coming on.

As soon as the Jedi Temple was in sight, Qui-Gon just barely suppressed a shout of joy. When the ship landed, he gathered up the baby and practically ran off of the ship. The moment that Qui-Gon hit the ground, Obi-Wan stopped crying and gazed innocently up at him.

Master Mace Windu chose that moment to walk up and greet them. "Ah, a newcomer." he smiled and leaned over to look at the baby. "Good little thing, isn't he?"

"Ha!" Qui-Gon said dryly. "Yeah, a little angel." He shoved the baby at Master Windu and started off towards the temple, shouting back, "I don't ever want to see the little bugger again!"

"Wait, where are you going?" Mace yelled at Qui-Gon's retreating back.

"_To get something for my headache!" _

Master Windu looked down at the baby and blinked. The baby blinked back, its wide blue eyes brimming with innocence. Master Windu shook his head and stared in the direction that Qui-Gon had gone._ "I wonder what's gotten into _him_…"_

_

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_(A/N: I hoped that you all liked it so far! Please tell me what you think! Oh, also, I did a search for unusual names, so Fabian is actually a name that, in Latin, means 'bean.')

Hilary


	2. Obi Wan's Punishment

(A/N: Unfortunately, I haven't read the book where Qui-Gon takes Obi-Wan as his apprentice. Therefore, this fanfic is _instead_ of that book. Obi-Wan isn't yet apprenticed to Qui-Gon.)

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**Chapter One: Obi-Wan's Punishment**

_-twelve years later-_

Obi-Wan raced down the corridor, sweat beading on his forehead. He was late… _again_. Finally, he reached the classroom, out of breath. He was in such a hurry that he didn't watch where he was going, and ran straight into the teacher.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, class started _fifteen_ _minutes ago_. Explain yourself."

"I…I…" Obi-Wan stuttered, mind racing, "Well, you see, I was on my way here, but then there… I mean, the floor was being waxed…and I had to find a way to go around… and I got lost." he finished, looking up at his teacher hopefully.

"Nice try, Kenobi. Just a little bit of advice, though… before you start fabricating a fantastic story next time, remember that you can't lie to a Jedi."

_Oh yeah. Crap._ Obi-Wan shuffled his feet and tried to look as humble and apologetic as possible. It didn't work.

"As a punishment you will receive extra homework tonight. In the event that you're late _yet again_ I will _triple_ the amount you get today. Do I make myself clear?" When Obi-Wan nodded, she motioned for him to take a seat. He quickly complied without another word.

The teacher proceeded to the front of the room, and began her lecture for the day. Half way through, though, Obi-Wan found himself drifting off to sleep. _I shouldn't have stayed up all night playing games on the holovision…_

"Obi-Wan!" he looked up so quickly that he nearly overbalanced and fell off of his chair. "This is the _second_ time I've had to interrupt my class because of you! I want you to stay after. I have to have a talk with you."

Obi-Wan moaned inwardly. "Yes ma'am."

xxxxx

When class was over, Obi-Wan headed reluctantly to the front of the room. The teacher was out for the moment, so he sat on top of the desk at the front and waited for her. For a moment he considered running out of the room and escaping, but that would be completely useless. She would just call him back later.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the teacher returned. "I'm glad to find you still here…and, quite frankly, a little bit surprised." Obi-Wan smiled hopefully. Maybe she would let him off easy… after all, he _already_ had extra homework.

"As punishment, I have decided that you will have to work under a Jedi for a month. _Not_," she added, "as a padawan, but as a kind of servant. You will do what he asks you to. Do you understand?"

Obi-Wan nodded glumly.

"Good. I have already checked in with the Jedi, and they are okay with this punishment. The Jedi you will be working under is named Qui-Gon Jinn. He will be waiting for you in the back garden after your next class. Which reminds me, you'd better get going. Your next class starts in two minutes."

Obi-Wan nodded and then dashed out of the door.

He was five minutes late for his next class. For being tardy without a valid excuse, (the other teacher hadn't provided him with a note), he received extra homework. As a result, Obi-Wan was rather sulky as he sat down. _This was _definitely _not a good way to begin the day!_

Not only did he have extra homework in _two_ classes, but he practically had to work as a slave for a Jedi! It wasn't _fair_! A lot of kids fell asleep in class… it just happened to him more than anyone else.

Obi-Wan stared blankly down at the desk, completely missing the lecture that the teacher was giving. Suddenly, a thought struck him. Just because he had to work for a Jedi didn't mean he couldn't _enjoy_ it…

A slow grin formed on his lips and he looked over at the teacher, pretending to pay attention. Already he was thinking of ways to make this "Qui-Gon's" life a living hell…

xxxxx

Qui-Gon suddenly jerked out of the meditation that he had been in and glanced at the terminal on the other side of the room that was displaying the time. He stretched, and then got to his feet with a slight moan. It was time to meet the kid that he had volunteered to take under his wing for a few weeks.

As he made his way to the garden, he wondered if he had made a mistake. He could have let one of the other Jedi volunteer… After a moment, he decided that he had done the right thing. Besides, it would be nice not having to do the dishes for a month!

When he reached the garden, the young padawan was already there waiting for him. Qui-Gon examined him, even as he examined Qui-Gon. The boy was dressed in the usual fashion, and had the same haircut that all of the padawans had. What struck him the most, however, were the boy's eyes. They were big and blue, and perfectly innocent. He _knew_ those eyes.

Qui-Gon kept his face neutral. _How did this happen? Were the other Jedi playing a joke on him? _The story of Obi-Wan's first journey to the Jedi Temple was now legendary. Qui-Gon _knew_ he would never live it down… and now _this_! The Jedi were going to have a good laugh over this.

"Hello," the boy began politely, "My name is—"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, isn't it." It was more of a statement than a question. The young padawan stared, then grinned and nodded. Qui-Gon continued, "I am—"

"Qui-Gon Jinn, isn't it."

There was a short pause as Qui-Gon sighed. "Yes, it is. I suppose I deserved that one. It's nice to meet you, Obi-Wan." He held out his hand, and after a moment Obi-Wan took it, smiling angelically.

Qui-Gon smiled back. _Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…_

xxxxx

Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon back through the Jedi Temple and up to the rooms where he supposed that the Jedi stayed. Qui-Gon led him to a room in the back of his own section and ushered him inside. "This will be your room for the time that you work for me. It would usually go to my apprentice, so I want no permanent damage to be done to it."

Qui-Gon turned backto Obi-Wan. "You don't seem like a bad kid, and I trust we'll get along just fine. Who knows? This might even be fun." Then the Jedi left him alone so that he could get used to his new room.

As soon as Qui-Gon was gone, the innocent look left Obi-Wan's face and a devilish one replaced it. _Oh yes, this was going to be _lots_ of fun!_

Obi-Wan reached into his pack and pulled out a jar of nearly invisible itch-powder. Qui-Gon would never know what hit him.

xxxxx

Qui-Gon gave Obi-Wan his first night off to do all of his homework, but warned him that his 'job' would begin immediately the next morning.

He was woken up earlier than he was used to by a loud _'CRACK!'_ as Qui-Gon rapped on the side of the door post with the handle of his lightsaber. After a moment, Qui-Gon peeked inside, and Obi-Wan glared back at him.

Finally the Jedi said, "Does this mean that you haven't started breakfast yet?"

Obi-Wan groaned and Qui-Gon left, chuckling. The padawan dragged himself out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Halfway there he spotted Qui-Gon, relaxed on the couch and watching the holovision. Talk about rubbing it in. Obi-Wan gave him a healthy glower, which he responded to with a brilliant smile. "You'd better get to work on breakfast soon, or you'll be late for class. Oh, but first why don't you lay out the clothes that I'm going to wear for the day? I have to be at a council meeting in about fifteen minutes." Qui-Gon was still wearing the clothes that he had worn yesterday.

Obi-Wan was about to retort that he could pick out his _own_ clothes, when he remembered the itch powder. He bowed, careful to keep his face in the very picture of obedience. "Yes, Sir. I'll get to work on that right away."

Qui-Gon watched him turn and head back towards their rooms, a curious look on his face. He seriously hadn't expected the boy to actually do as he had asked.

Back in his own room, Obi-Wan removed the itch powder from his pack and went to pick out Qui-Gon's clothing.

When he had them all laid out, he carefully removed the lid of the itch powder and, without touching it, sprinkled it all over the clothing. When it was sufficiently covered in it and the jar was empty, Obi-Wan had to get rid of the evidence. He crept out of the room and hid the jar under his bed.

Then he skipped merrily down the hall, overjoyed at now having a chance to ruin Qui-Gon's breakfast. After all, he could just whip up something after the Jedi left.

xxxxx

"I'm _sorry_, Sir! I really didn't _mean_ to use the salt instead of the sugar… I just couldn't tell the difference!"

When Qui-Gon finished spitting the last of his breakfast out into the nearest wastebasket, he turned to Obi-Wan and said, "Next time, _ask_. But never mind that now, I'm going to have to get changed and run. Have a good time at your lessons!"

"Oh, I will! I like my lessons as much as I like you!" Obi-Wan claimed earnestly, fighting hard to keep his face straight. Qui-Gon smiled and patted him on the head, then went to go change into his new clothing.

He was in such a hurry that he must have missed the evil smirk Obi-Wan gave him.

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(A/N: I really hope you all like this so far! Thank you so much for the awesome reviews for the last chapter! I truthfully didn't expect that many, and didn't expect them to be good. Thank you so, so, so much! Please review this chapter, I would love to know what you think!)

Hilary


	3. A New Threat

(A/N: Thank you SO much for the awesome reviews! Next chapter, I'll try to respond to each of them personally, so if you have any questions ask this chapter:)

I'm warning you ahead of time that _some_ of this chapter (not all of it) is... not very funny. Most of you probably thought that this entire story was going to just be humor, but there is an actual plot. This plot begins in this chapter, and is further explained in chapters to come. Don't worry, though, the primary genre of this is still humor!)

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**Chapter Two: A New Threat**

As Qui-Gon sat down beside his fellow Jedi, he subconsciously scratched his shoulder. After a few moments he scratched his leg. Suddenly an old friend sat down beside him and grinned. "I really hope you're not coming down with something. Especially not if it's contagious."

"Wuh'lin!" Qui-Gon hadn't seen his Twi'lek friend in several months, ever since he had left with a few others on a Jedi mission that had been kept secret. "So," he said slowly, "You're back. Is that what this meeting is about?"

Wuh'lin immediately sobered. "Unfortunately, yes. As you know, I was sent to an uncivilized planet on the far side of the galaxy," Qui-Gon hadn't know n this, but motioned for Wuh'lin to continue anyway. "Five other Jedi went with me. Only one of them returned."

Qui-Gon tried to concentrate on the situation, which was starting to sound rather serious, but the itching on his legs was starting to get worse. Wuh'lin watched him for a moment before saying, "You know, that's starting to get pretty bad. Maybe you should have someone look at it."

"No, I'm alright. Just give me a moment." Qui-Gon scratched his leg once more before stopping. He was determined to ignore the itching no matter what. "So, what happened to them? The Jedi?"

"That's what this meeting is about."

"Ah," Qui-Gon nodded, "Then I guess I'll just have to wait, right?"

"Nope." When Qui-Gon gave Wuh'lin a blank look, the Twi'lek continued, "Mace Windu just came in now. We're starting."

xxxxx

Mace started off the meeting by explaining where he had sent the Jedi… and why. "We have been receiving signs of possible life forms on a planet assumed up until now to be uninhabited. It is a small planet on the edge of the galaxy, and not well known. The merchants call it 'Estéril,' which is believed to mean 'barren' in a foreign tongue. The climate is that of a desert: dry, hot, and unproductive. We sent some of our Jedi to explore Estéril to see if they could find the life forms that were appearing there. Six went… only two returned."

Qui-Gon tried hard to concentrate, but found himself unable to resist reaching around to scratch his back. _What was wrong with him! _He decided he should try to ignore the itching feeling on his back as well.

"The two Jedi who returned to us, Wuh'lin and Lenaila, bring interesting news. Would one of you two care to explain?"

Wuh'lin and a middle-aged human woman exchanged glances, and then Lenaila stood. She was a good-looking woman with dark skin and long, black hair. "The life forms found on Estéril were not mere natives as we hoped they might be, but soldiers that had decided to make a base there. They were armed with powerful weapons, and it is believed that they have a money resource from someone in Coruscant."

"We went to them in peace," Wuh'lin picked up, "But were attacked. We tried to defend ourselves, but there were too many of them. Four of us they killed, and only Lenaila and I escaped…though I'm beginning to wonder if they simply let us go. It wasn't until we were on our way back here that we found this." Wuh'lin pulled a small, glass sphere out of a deep pocket, and placed it carefully on the floor in the middle of everyone.

There was a flash of light, and the sphere split in half as if on a hinge. Several moments later the blinding light faded away to reveal a recorded hologram of a man, unidentifiable because of a heavy cloak and a folded black scarf tied around his eyes. Curiously, the scarf didn't even have any eye-holes cut into it.

After a few seconds, the hologram spoke. "Greetings, Jedi masters. By now you are probably wondering what my people on Estéril are up to. I shall keep you waiting no longer.

"For too long the Jedi have held too much power over the people of this galaxy. They have stolen young children, played tricks on peoples' minds, and distanced themselves from everyone else. We will no longer put up with this devilry. The evil that is the Jedi order is at long last reaching its end." The hologram flickered, and then disappeared.

A deafening silence followed the message.

At last, Mace stepped forward and snapped the sphere back together. "I would like to speak with a few individuals. Take this time to talk amongst yourselves, but do not leave the room. The meeting will resume in exactly five minutes."

Qui-Gon was about to make his way over to Wuh'lin, but then noticed Mace approaching him. He stopped and waited for the Jedi to reach him, wondering what he wanted.

Mace came to a halt before him and, after hesitating for a moment, began. "Qui-Gon…you know that I wouldn't send anyone back to that planet unless it was necessary. As much as I hate putting anyone in this kind of immediate danger, we have to find out more about these people."

"I agree." Qui-Gon tried to ignore the itch on his arm.

"Qui-Gon, you are one of our best Jedi…even if you are a bit… rebellious." Mace stopped for a moment, as if wondering how he should say the next bit. By now, Qui-Gon had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

"Reduced to flattery, are you?" he smiled. "Mace, you know that ordinarily I would accept. At the moment, however, there is the promise I made to a teacher to …look after… one of her students."

"Ah, yes," Mace smiled now too, "I heard about that. Took on Obi-Wan Kenobi, didn't you?" he shook his head, "Even after all of that trouble with the plane—"

"_So_," Qui-Gon interrupted, trying to steer the conversation away from Obi-Wan, "I have another obligation. If you get me out of that, then I will go."

"The mission can wait a week or two."

"A month?"

There was a pause. "Ah. I see the problem." Mace thought for a moment before saying, "Very well, I'll give you a month. You will have to leave immediately after that, though, unless you think that you won't be able to handle—"  
"I'll go."

Mace nodded in satisfaction. "Very well. Now, tell me, what is Obi-Wan like? I heard he was a regular little trouble-maker."

Qui-Gon blinked. "Oh, no, he's great. He's been obedient and polite the entire time… I don't see what the problem was with him."

Mace frowned. "There haven't been any… incidents?"

"No. Well, unless you count breakfast. He's not much of a cook. Besides that, though, he's a complete angel."

"An angel, huh?" Mace watched as Qui-Gon scratched his arm, then looked as if he were about to say something. Then he stopped and turned abruptly, "The five minutes are up, we'll have to get back to the meeting."

xxxxx

Qui-Gon squirmed as he tried to avoid scratching any part of his body. He wondered if it was something about his clothes, and then brushed that thought off. No, the clothes were the same as the ones he normally wore. So what was it?  
He only half-listened as Mace announced that he, Qui-Gon, would be leaving in a month for Estéril. When he announced that Qui-Gon would be going either alone or with one other person, Wuh'lin immediately volunteered to go with him, as he 'knew the lay of the land.'

Mace, however, wasn't so sure about this. "Wuh'lin, Qui-Gon is going in disguise. This won't be a frontal attack or a peace negotiation; it is going to be a spying mission. Surely the soldiers you met before will recognize you."

"I could stay on the plane, and just help him navigate. I survived on that forsaken place for months, and I know what things are like there. It is hard to get used to, and Qui-Gon may need some help."

Mace debated this, and then turned to Qui-Gon. "What is your opinion?"

Qui-Gon, however, didn't appear to have heard him. He was too busy trying not to scratch his back. As a result, he twitched and squirmed, his hands clenched so that they wouldn't betray him.

Mace raised his eyebrows. "Master Jinn, if you need to excuse yourself, by all means, go."

_That_ got Qui-Gon's attention. "It's not… I don't…"

"Rather jumpy, he is." Yoda spoke for the first time the entire meeting. "Been watching him, have I." he got shakily to his feet, and then hobbled over to where Qui-Gon was sitting. Carefully he reached up and brushed off Qui-Gon's shoulder, and then examined his fingers. "Itch powder, it is."  
"Itch powder?" Qui-Gon looked at him incredulously. "That doesn't make sense! How did itch powder get into my clothing? No one touched it except me and… and…" he trailed off, realization hitting him.

Mace smiled slowly. "Little angel, is he?"

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(A/N: Yes, I know, Obi-Wan himself wasn't in this chapter. But don't worry, he's in the next one! And as a heads up, I'll probably update sometime tomorrow. If not tomorrow, (meaning Friday, for those of you who read it _on_ Friday), I'll update Saturday. Thank you again for all of the reviews, and PLEASE tell me what you think of this chapter! 

Hilary


	4. Not as Stupid as He Looks

(A/N: I'm sorry I wasn't able to update Friday or Saturday like I said I would. My cousins came over and they stayed two nights. As they're little boys, you have to give them constant attention, and so I didn't have time to sit and write this. Thank you again for all of the reviews! As I promised, I'm responding to each of them:

**Not You: **Lol, I'm glad that you liked the last chapter! And the last line of the last chapter. Thank you so, so much for reading this! As I said, I wasn't sure about the reception I'd get over here on the Star Wars boards, so thank you for making me feel welcome. Here's the next chapter, as promised… just a little late…

**Christine Erik: **Thanks for reading this! I update as soon as I can… um. Oh yeah. You read Crimson Rose… Um, I update _this_ as soon as I can! ((innocent smile))

**speed2: **Lol, thank you! I'm glad that you like it. :)

**Veilius: **I'm glad that you like my writing, and the plot. Yeah, poor Qui-Gon has to put up with Obi before he's even apprenticed to him.

**Marie Kenobi: **Thank you for reviewing! I'm so happy that everyone seems to find this funny/cute. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**onesmartgoalie: **Lol, I'm pleased that you were laughing. That means, (hopefully) you enjoyed it, right? I hope you like this chapter!

**Eax. M. Attalos: **Aww, thank you! And I'm glad that you like the plot :)

**ForsakenOn: **Lol… yeah, Obi is in **_big_ **trouble… he just doesn't know it yet… I hope you like this chapter :)

**Eldwin: **Sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter! I hope that it is okay. I'm glad that you like how I portrayed Obi as a child. :D

**kitsunemajin: **Yes, someone who actually said something about the plot:D Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad that you like it! I hope you stick with me for a little while.

**Rufwardo: **I'm happy that you like my style of writing. As to where this story is going… well, just read

**TailsEponineRox: **Lol, yeah, Obi _is_ in a lot of trouble Read and find out:) I hope that you enjoy the chapter.

**zebraFinch: **Lol, well, I can't really answer that question… that would be giving away the plot! I'm glad that you liked it, and thank you SO much for the review!

**Elena 22: **Thank you so much for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed it:)

**Kara: **… brat. I can't believe you used my name! I walked out of the room for _one second_… ((sighs))

**Shadow: **Lol, I'm glad that you seemed to like it so much! Here's more right now.

**Vee017: **How he gets him back? Well, you'll see in this chapter, I think... I hope you like it!

**To ALL of you**: THANKS! Oh, and guess what? Yesterday I did my makeup like Queen Amidala, (our family had a picnic, and I felt like being weird) and my sister, (who thinks I'm a geek…which I find funny, by the way) gave me this REALLY weird look. Now, today, I did my hair like Princess Leia, and she gave me an even _more_ weird of a look… it was completely hilarious… I still have my hair like that now. It looks pretty neat... lol. Okay, rambling done. Now the story…

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**Chapter Three: Not as Stupid as He Looks**

That evening when Obi-Wan returned from his lessons, Qui-Gon was there waiting for him. "So, how were your classes today?" he asked, reclining on the couch.

"As boring as ever." Obi-Wan mumbled back, dropping his school stuff on the floor.

"Really?" Qui-Gon quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you said you liked your classes as much as you liked me. But then, I expect you were telling the truth, am I right?"

Obi-Wan gulped. _Uh oh. Caught._ "Well…I…no, not _really_…I mean, you're more fun than the classes, anyway. I just… don't really like chores…and I—" Obi-Wan stopped, and then decided to change the topic. "So, how was your council meeting?"

"Very…_interesting_." Qui-Gon said with a smile, "And very informative. Not quite as boring as I thought…_hoped_…it would be."

"Oh…" Obi-Wan shifted his feet, looking anywhere but at the Jedi. "So, what was it about?" He noticed vaguely that the Jedi had changed his outfit. _If Qui-Gon knew that he put the itch powder in his clothing, he was _so_ dead…_

Qui-Gon debated on telling Obi-Wan what it was actually about, and then decided not to. "Jedi business. Probably not anything that you'd be interested in. Now, why don't you go make dinner?" Qui-Gon quickly added, "And this time, try not to confuse the sugar and the salt!"

Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment. _Was that _itWhen he was sure that Qui-Gon had nothing else to say, he headed off towards the kitchen. He still couldn't _believe_ he was going to get away with it! Still, no complaints…Qui-Gon must be even more stupid than he looked!

Obi-Wan chuckled to himself and began planning ways to ruin Qui-Gon's dinner.

xxxxx

_Jedi don't take revenge_.

Qui-Gon knew this as a fact… but what he had in mind wasn't exactly _revenge_. At least, _he_ wouldn't call it revenge. No, it was more of a…learning experience. Yes, that was a good term for it…

As the young padawan began making dinner, Qui-Gon slipped off unnoticed to the side. He had taken the liberty of researching Obi-Wan's background, and had found just the thing to … help him learn a little bit better. Or, at the very least help him learn not to mess with a master Jedi! …_Especially_ a master Jedi who didn't mind bending the rules just a touch.

Qui-Gon slid into the room he had given Obi-Wan for the time being, and headed straight over towards the holovision implanted into the left-hand wall. He knew quite well that Obi-Wan had already hooked up hundreds of his games to it. Qui-Gon began to sort through them, looking for _just_ the right one.

Finally, he pulled out a game labeled "X-Wing Racers." With a smile, he carefully inserted the game and started to fiddle with it, tweaking it here and there. Then, when he was finished, he confiscated the rest of Obi-Wan's games, hiding them craftily in various places around his apartments. Who knew? Maybe he could get Obi-Wan to play treasure hunt for them later. The important thing now was that he played the game that Qui-Gon had fixed…

xxxxx

By the time Obi-Wan finished dinner, Qui-Gon was back on the couch watching the holovision. With a huge angelic smile, Obi-Wan sat the plate down in front of him. "Here you go, Sir, I finished your dinner."

Qui-Gon looked up at him, then down at the plate, and then back, a confused look on his face. "What are you talking about?" When he saw Obi-Wan's puzzled face, he continued, "Oh! Didn't I tell you? _I'm_ going out to eat tonight. You were making your _own_ dinner."

This took a moment for Obi-Wan to register. When it did, though, the look on his face was almost enough to make Qui-Gon break out into laughter. He kept his cool however, and said, "As a matter of fact, I'd better be going right now. Enjoy your dinner! I'm sure that it will be _every bit_ as good as my breakfast was."

With that, he got up and made his way out of the door, leaving a shocked and stuttering Obi-Wan behind him.

xxxxx

A little while after Qui-Gon had left, Obi-Wan tried making himself something else to eat. He soon found, however, that the cabinets that held the food were sealed shut. Downhearted, he returned to the meal that he had _thought_ he had made for Qui-Gon. He was starving, and at least it was edible, right?

After one bite of bantha meat marinated (though more like soaked) in vinegar and pickle juice, however, Obi-Wan found the edible part highly debatable. This time it was _him_ with his head in the trash can.

Desperate, he had gone back to the kitchen and tried to cut open the cabinets with his lightsaber. This hadn't worked, however, and Obi-Wan had a sneaking suspicion that Qui-Gon had somehow made his cabinets lightsaber-proof. He had to admitt to himself at last that perhaps Qui-Gon wasn't as stupid as he looked.

Obi-Wan finally gave up, and, after throwing the rest of the dinner into the garbage, headed for his room. At least he could get his mind off of the hunger by playing video games!

To his horror, however, all of his games were missing. Instead, in the drawer where he had kept them, there was a note that read, "DO YOUR HOMEWORK."

Obi-Wan groaned and slammed the door shut. He was beginning to _really_ dislike Qui-Gon. It was too bad that Jedi couldn't hate…

Sulky, the young padawan collapsed on his bed, only to feel something hard underneath him. Cautiously, he got up and pulled the thing out from beneath him. For a moment, he just stared in disbelief. Then a grin lit up his face. Qui-Gon had missed one of his video games! "X-Wing Racers"… it wasn't his favorite, but it was one of the better ones!

Obi-Wan happily inserted it into the holovision and began to play. It was a racing game, as one would assume from the title, and the objective was to crash all of the other peoples' racers and come in first place. The race wasn't over until all of the other peoples' racers were crashed, or until you crashed.

Obi-Wan gazed at the screen intently, picking his first prey. Finally, he decided on a flashy gold ship to crash. He got in line behind it, and began shooting. As soon as he was about to land the blow that would crash the ship, however, the game froze.

A little pop up came up onto the screen. Frowning, Obi-Wan read it.

_To be able to crash this racer, you must first answer the following question:_

_Who was the Senator from Alderaan in 5994, and what was he/she famous for?_

Obi-Wan stared at the message for a moment, horror washing over him. _Qui-Gon had fiddled with this program and he had turned it into every child's worst nightmare… an _educational video game!

xxxxx

Qui-Gon finished meeting with a few of his more rebellious Jedi friends, and they had agreed to his plan. In fact, many of them were looking forward to it. After they parted, Qui-Gon grabbed something to eat and headed back home.

Obi-Wan was sitting at the table waiting for him when he returned, and gave him a heavy glare when he entered. Qui-Gon sat down across from him at the table, and for a moment the two just looked at each other.

Finally, Qui-Gon passed a package over the table. "Here, I thought you might be hungry, so I picked something up for you."

Obi-Wan unwrapped the food and, after examining it, determined that it was normal and gulped it down.

When he was finished, Qui-Gon smiled and said, "What, no thank you?" Obi-Wan glowered and didn't say anything. Qui-Gon sighed heavily. "Look, Obi-Wan, I feel bad about ruining your game, so I decided to make it up to you."

The twelve-year-old perked up at this. "Did you buy me new video games?"

"No, it's better than that. _Much_ better." The Jedi smiled.

"So… you aren't upset about the itching powder?" Obi-Wan asked slowly.

"Me? Upset that you made me look like an idiot in front of the entire Jedi council? No, of _course_ not!" Obi-Wan deducted that Qui-Gon's grin wasn't quite a hundred percent sincere, and he began to grow nervous. When the Jedi passed him a bigger package over the table, he stared at it as if it were a bomb about to explode.

"Go on, open it." Qui-Gon urged.

Hesitantly, Obi-Wan unwrapped the parcel. He blinked several times when he saw it, and then gave the Jedi Master a very bewildered look. "A _helmet_?"

Qui-Gon's smile grew, "Oh yes, young padawan, a helmet. I've been thinking, you spend so much time playing those video games… you must _really_ enjoy them. Am I right?" When Obi-Wan nodded, the Jedi Knight continued, "Therefore, I figured that you would enjoy them a _million_ times more in real life."

As Obi-Wan's face drained of color, Qui-Gon continued, eyes sparkling, "That's right my young friend…Tomorrow, we're going _racing._"

* * *

(A/N: Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter! I started it on Monday, and finished it today! I usually would sit down, type a paragraph, and then get distracted. Lol! Sorry again!

PLEASE review if you enjoyed this! I would seriously appreciate it! The review doesn't have to be long, just something to give me an idea of how many people are reading (and of how scared I should be of people coming after me if I don't update) Thank you!)

Hilary


	5. Let the Race Begin!

(A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I was busy with the theater program I was in, and didn't have much time. But now, I'm out of it, and should be able to update regularly again:) Hope you like the chapter!)

* * *

**Chapter Four: Let the Race Begin!**

The next morning, Obi-Wan was up even before Qui-Gon came to wake him. He snuck stealthily over to his door. There was a chance that he could escape before anything happened, and just…lay low for a day or two. Carefully and quietly, Obi-Wan reached out and grasped the door handle. He began to slowly twist his hand… only to find that the door knob wouldn't budge. It was locked.

Obi-Wan stared at it for a moment, and then closed his eyes. He tried to use the force to unlock it, but something was preventing him from doing it. Trust Qui-Gon to come up with force-proof door locks.

Biting back a groan, Obi-Wan backed away and tried to think of something else. Suddenly, he remembered the window. The young padawan rushed over to it, opened the latch, and lifted it up. He stuck his head out—and then quickly drew it back inside. His stomach gurgled nauseously. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath… he _couldn't_ be afraid of heights—he was going to be a Jedi! Slowly he stuck his head back out of the window. The world spun dizzyingly, and Obi-Wan had to back away quickly before he threw-up.

Obi-Wan finally realized that there was no way to escape his fate. Sighing, he fell back onto his bed. A split second later he jumped back to his feet. _He could cut through the wall with the lightsaber!_

Obi-Wan grabbed his lightsaber and ran over to the wall. He crossed his fingers that the walls wouldn't be lightsaber-proof. A smile lit his face when the lightsaber went through… apparently Qui-Gon hadn't thought about _this._

xxxxx

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow as the end of a lightsaber began burning its way through his bedroom wall. It seemed that the young padawan had no sense of direction. He smirked, and then leaned on the wall next to the lightsaber, waiting for Obi-Wan to appear. Briefly, he considered stopping the young padawan, but then decided against it. This was just too much fun.

Obi-Wan must have been _desperate_ to try this…

xxxxx

Obi-Wan smiled in triumph as the lightsaber efficiently cut a hole in the wall big enough for him to crawl through. He deactivated the lightsaber and quietly got down onto his hands and knees. Stealthily, he began to creep through the hole. It wouldn't do any good if he woke Qui-Gon up. Obi-Wan held his breath, and finished pulling himself through the hole.

He'd done it! He'd—

Run right into Qui-Gon's room.

Obi-Wan gulped and looked up into the Jedi's face. Oops. "Um… sorry, sir, for ruining your wall… the, uh, lightsaber slipped."

But apparently, Qui-Gon was laughing too hard to care at the moment. Obi-Wan bit his lip and shifted his feet, waiting for Qui-Gon to say something. After a moment, the Jedi regained his breath and said, "Young Kenobi, did I not tell you that I would not tolerate permanent damage done to my apprentice's room? But never mind now; we'll discuss the punishment for that later. At the moment, we have to get ready to go racing." Qui-Gon's eyes sparkled mischievously as Obi-Wan gave him a sulky look. "Come now, young padawan, don't tell me that you're not excited?"

"I can't wait." Obi-Wan said miserably.

"That's the spirit." Qui-Gon seemingly magically produced the helmet that he had given Obi-Wan the night before, (the helmet that Obi-Wan had tried to hide), from behind his back and handed it to him. "Now, let's go."

Obi-Wan stared at him. "Already?"

"Yes, the race begins as soon as everyone is ready, and as far as I know everyone else is there except us."

"Yay." Obi-Wan stared dismally down at the helmet in his hands as he slowly followed Qui-Gon out of the room.

As they made their way down to the area where the race was taking place, Qui-Gon started explaining the rules. "Now, the objective of this race is to crash every other ship. The race isn't over until all of them are crashed but the winner's… if your ship crashes, you're immediately disqualified. Does this sound familiar?"

Obi-Wan stared at Qui-Gon as if he had grown five extra heads. "But…but that's _dangerous!_ Someone could get hurt!"

"Every day you practice with that lightsaber. You could get hurt, right?"

"Well… yes."

"But you still do it, right?"

"Of course, but—"

"It's the same thing with this."

"No, it _isn't_! I mean… there's … well, I…"

"Besides, you won't be driving… **_I_ **will be."

Obi-Wan came to an abrupt halt. "W-what?"

Qui-Gon turned back to the young padawan and patiently explained, "Each ship needs two people to control it. One person flies the ship; the other person controls the guns. I'll be flying, you'll be shooting. Any questions?"

Obi-Wan made the best pleading eyes he could and looked tearfully up at Qui-Gon. "Do I _have_ to?"

"Yes."

"But what if—"

"Ah, we're here."

Obi-Wan frowned at him, and then looked around. They had only just stepped out of the Jedi temple. "But, sir—" he began, and then stopped. Obviously, nothing was going to stop Qui-Gon. He tried a different tactic. "So… where's the race track?"

"Well, there isn't _technically_ a race track. We're flying in circles around the temple." Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan calmly. Obi-Wan gaped at him, mouthing wordlessly.

"Even though no one on the Jedi council knows about it, and we weren't given permission, _and_ there's a high chance of damage being done because of a crashing ship… all I know is that _I'm _not going to be the one to explain to Master Yoda why exactly his meditation chamber suddenly went up in flames."

Qui-Gon hid a smile. "I'm glad you showed up, Kit. Who else is here?"

Kit Fisto listed other names that Obi-Wan _thought_ he vaguely recognized, but he wasn't quite sure. The thing that he _was_ sure about, however, was that they were all Jedi. "Did you put this together all by yourself?" he asked Qui-Gon after a moment.

"Of course I did. It wasn't very hard… now, Kit, did Wuh'lin show up?"

"No, he couldn't make it. Some further business with the Estéril project. Apparently he's still adamant that he should go with you on your mission." Kit _almost_ smiled, "He sends his best wishes, however, and wanted me to tell you, and I quote, 'scare the crap out of the little squirt.' Not exactly Jedi-like sentiments."

Qui-Gon chuckled, but Obi-Wan just glared downat the ground. It didn't sound like this Wuh'lin person was someone he'd get along with very well. Suddenly, a thought struck him. When Kit left to head back to his ship, he spoke up. "What did he mean, your mission? Are you going somewhere? Do _I_ get to go?"

Qui-Gon glanced over at the young padawan, perfectly serious now. "Yes, I'm going on a mission. The less you know about it, the better… and no, you _don't_ get to go. Now, why don't we go get our ship prepared?"

Without another word, Qui-Gon turned and headed towards a ship that was parked nearby. Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment, thinking. If Qui-Gon didn't want him to know about whatever mission he was going on…

_Then I'd better learn all I can about it!_

xxxxx

When Qui-Gon finished showing Obi-Wan how to work the guns, he motioned for the young padawan to strap himself in and put his helmet on. When he did so, Qui-Gon called for the others to line up on the makeshift starting line that he had constructed. When everyone was lined up, he reached for his speaking device and asked, "Is everyone ready?"

There was a chorus of 'yes's as everyone answered. Qui-Gon ignored the one weak-sounding, '_no_' that he heard from behind him, and continued, "Then everyone, on your mark!"

Obi-Wan gripped the sides of his seat nervously, his hands shaking.

"_Get set,"_

He only hoped that he didn't pass out…

"_**GO!"

* * *

**_

(A/N: Hmm, I thought that the race would be in this chapter, but there was too much stuff to be taken care of beforehand. The race _will_ be in the next chapter, though, and that chapter should be up in a day or two. Please review, and tell me what you think!)

: Hilary :


	6. X Wing Racers Live

(A/N: ((looks around nervously)) Okay, so it took me a little while to update… sorry… We're having problems with our computer at the moment, so I might start writing the next chapter tonight just in case. Lol, for all I know, it might even be up tonight. But _probably_ not… We'll see. Anyway, unlike this one, it _should_ be up soon, unless there are problems that arise that I didn't foresee. I'm not even that busy this coming week… I think that all I have are voice lessons on Tuesday, church tomorrow, and auditions for a theater tomorrow. So that leaves the rest of the time free… :)

* * *

**Last Time:**

"_Then, everyone, on your mark!"_

_Obi-Wan gripped the edges of his seat nervously, his hands shaking._

"_Get set,"_

_He only hoped he didn't pass out…_

"_GO!"

* * *

_

**Chapter Six: X-Wing Racers…_Live_**

Obi-Wan couldn't repress a small yelp as the ship that he was in lurched forward. Qui-Gon cast him an amused look, and he could feel his cheeks grow warm. He opened his mouth to make an excuse, but then realized he didn't have one and shut it again. That was probably a good thing, too, because if he had left it open he might have thrown up…

Suddenly the entire ship tilted on an extreme angle as Qui-Gon maneuvered it through a tight space between buildings. Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes shut; using all of the self-will he had not to cry out. He would survive this without making a fool of himself. He _had _to.

A few moments later, Obi-Wan's sweating hands began to slide off of the edges of the seat. He desperately grabbed the nearest thing to him to stop himself from falling onto the floor of the ship; the gears that operated the guns. When he did that, however, he accidentally activated them.

Qui-Gon blinked as their ship began to fire at absolutely nothing. He turned to glance at Obi-Wan and, seeing that he was pale and shaking, just grinned and turned back around. He decided to ignore the random gun shots. After doing a few more crazy maneuvers just for the heck of it, he called back to Obi-Wan, "Get those guns ready, we're going after that ship up ahead!"

Obi-Wan changed a small peek at the ship ahead of them. It was a small, flashy looking yellow one, and it was busy shooting the ship ahead of it. Obi-Wan quickly dropped his gaze back down to the gun controls. At least the gun controls weren't _spinning_…

"When I get in range, start shooting at it!" Qui-Gon ordered. Obi-Wan just nodded dazedly and gripped the controls even harder. A few moments and needless tricky maneuvers later, they were directly behind their target. "Now!" Obi-Wan hastily obeyed Qui-Gon's command, and zoned the guns in on the ship. When everything was lined up, he fired.

The other ship had apparently been paying too much attention on its own shooting to notice. The result was that when Obi-Wan shot at it, it failed to move out of the way. The laser shot hit one of the engines, and the ship immediately began to spiral downwards, out of control.

"Are you sure that they'll be okay?" Obi-Wan asked worriedly, not wanting someone to get critically injured or even killed because of him.

"Of course they will be. Now, we're going to—" But Qui-Gon didn't have time to finish, because their entire ship rocked. He dived for the controllers and quickly jerked out of the line of fire that was coming from the ship behind them. He steered their ship around until it was facing the one that had been shooting and yelled, "Your turn, Obi-Wan!"

The young padawan hastily grabbed the gun controls and began randomly shooting at the ship behind them, while Qui-Gon kept working on dodging the opposing ships laser beams. A few moments later, they were able to crash the other ship. Unfortunately, they lost their guns in the process.

"What are we going to do without our guns?" Obi-Wan exclaimed frantically, "We can't crash another ship, we'll have to forfeit!" He seemed to pause and consider this, "Yep, we'll definitely have to forfeit!" This time he sounded considerably happier.

"Too bad, young padawan. There _is_ no forfeit, remember? It's either crash, or be crashed. Besides, just because we've lost our guns doesn't mean that we can't crash another ship."  
"But there are…like…_twenty _of them!"

"Actually, there were fifteen at the start of this race. We've crashed two, which makes thirteen. If there were other ships that crashed two, that would mean there are about five ships left."

Obi-Wan blinked. "What?"

"Let's just say that there are exactly five ships left. They each crashed two. How many does that make?"

"Um… ten."

"Plus the five that are left?"

Obi-Wan blushed and muttered, "Fifteen."

"Exactly. You got your math lesson for the day after all." Qui-Gon smiled at him. "Now, I suggest we go hide somewhere until the rest of the ships all shoot each other down."

"What? But… but that's cheating!"

"Actually, it isn't. You can't cheat if there aren't any rules." Qui-Gon steered their ship away from the 'race field' and gently landed their ship near the area where they had started. "They'll think we crashed."

Obi-Wan just crossed his arms. "That's still cheating!"

Qui-Gon's eyes sparkled as he said, "Would you rather wait for someone to crash us?" When Obi-Wan didn't respond, he grinned and added, "I didn't think so."

They sat in silence for a while. Obi-Wan was still feeling ill, after all, and was glad to be on the ground…though he would never admit it. When he started to feel better, he decided to make use of the dead time to find out more about the mission that Qui-Gon was going on. So far, all he knew was that it was called the "Estéril project" and that some other Jedi named Wuh'lin wanted to go with him. Not much to go on, there. He decided to start with the name "Estéril" and go from there. To him, it sounded like a star name, or perhaps… a planet name.

"Sir, I've been struggling with my homework, do you think you could help me?"

"Of course I can. What do you need help with, exactly?"

"I need to list two facts about ten planets that were on my list. I did seven of them, but I couldn't even remember the other three planets. I _obviously_ didn't have time to go to the archives," he glowered slightly at Qui-Gon. "Anyway," he paused and tried to recall a name that he remembered hearing a while ago," can you tell me where Vienix is? I don't think I've ever even heard of it."

"You wouldn't have. It's pretty far away, and mostly unpopulated. It's also very small. Is that good enough? There isn't much to say about it."

"Yeah, I think that would work. What about Lenevron?"

"Has a tropical climate, and a rather large crystal mine."

"Okay, all that's left is…Este-rill." He purposely messed up the pronunciation of the name so that Qui-Gon would have less reason to suspect him.

"It's pronounced Estéril," the Jedi began reluctantly. He looked Obi-Wan in the eyes for a moment, but couldn't tell if he was faking or not. "Very well… but let me see this homework when we get back."

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Okay. You can spell check it for me."

"Hmm. Estéril has a desert climate, and…" Qui-Gon suddenly realized he didn't know overly much about it. He couldn't very well use _'has a small army of rebels against the Jedi order on it'_ as an answer. "And is largely unpopulated."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Who lives there? I would hate to live in a desert."

"I don't know too much about Estéril." _Well, it was true…_

"Oh."

There was a pause. Qui-Gon suddenly glanced up to see how many ships were left. He looked just in time to see that there were only two ships left up in the air, and that one was crashing. "Time to get back into the race."

"But we have no guns!" Obi-Wan protested. "We won't be able to fight them!"

"There are other ways of crashing a ship besides laser fire, young padawan."

Qui-Gon started the ship back up, and Obi-Wan moaned. "Can't we just… _pretend_ that we crashed? Then it could be all over with right now!"

Qui-Gon looked at him in mock horror. "Why, Obi-Wan, that would be _cheating_!" He suddenly smiled and flew full throttle up into the air.

Obi-Wan clutched at his seat again, the nausea threatening to overwhelm him again. He forced himself to calm down. After all, it hadn't been _too_ bad last time… he'd survived, right? …But last time they had guns…

Suddenly the com link activated, and Kit's voice filtered through it, "I thought you'd already crashed… what's going on?"

Qui-Gon picked it up and responded. "We decided to lay low for a little while, but we're perfectly fine. We didn't crash at all."

"You're missing your guns."

"Yes… rather inconvenient, but we'll live."

The only grim response to this was, "_Maybe_."

Obi-Wan gulped and closed his eyes as the other ship began shooting at them. Maybe this was just all a dream, and he was safely back in his bed… He was jerked roughly back into reality when their entire ship shuddered. Qui-Gon hurriedly moved their ship out of range, but the opposing one followed. Again, the entire ship rocked.

Obi-Wan watched open-mouthed as Qui-Gon casually picked up the com link, using only one hand to steer. "Who's your shooter, Kit? They're good."

"Secura."

"You got Aayla into this? She only just passed her trial a few days ago…you'd think she wouldn't want to jeopardize her career yet."

"She's a fast learner."

Qui-Gon grinned, but didn't respond. He was too busy keeping away from their missiles. Obi-Wan's stomach rolled as they went into even worse twists, turns, and sharp jerks then they had done before. After one particularly bad triple spin, he threw up over the side of the ship. After he finished throwing up, he got a good look at the ground—which was a good thousand feet beneath them—and threw up again. He was feeling extremely light-headed…even more so than before. Sometimes he thought that they were spinning when they weren't. After several seconds, he threw up again.

"Obi-Wan, did you learn how to block laser fire with your lightsaber yet?" Qui-Gon asked suddenly. Obi-Wan had to ask him to repeat the question, but then he nodded. "Good… Did you learn how to _deflect_ it yet?" When Obi-Wan nodded a second time, Qui-Gon smiled and abruptly stopped the ship in midair. It was testament to how sick he was that Obi-Wan didn't even throw up. There was nothing left _to_ throw up.

"All right, get out your lightsaber, and when they shoot at us I want you to redirect it at their engines."

"How?"

"I thought you knew how to—"

"Not that… I mean, how do I get into position?"

"You'll have to climb out on top of the ship."

Obi-Wan stared at him, and then shook his head vigorously. "Uh-uh! I can't! No way!"

Qui-Gon just shrugged sadly and smiled. "Then I guess we're going down."

The entire ship wobbled again, and they began to tilt to the side. Obi-Wan glanced out again. It was a _long_ way down. He looked back at Qui-Gon and gave in. "Fine! I'm g-going!"

"Good." Qui-Gon calmly folded his arms across his chest and leaned back. "You'd better hurry."

Obi-Wan scrambled out on top of the ship, trying not to think about how high they were. What if he slipped and—no. He didn't want to imagine that. The world was still spinning slightly, and he was still exceedingly light-headed, but he managed to focus on the beams of light flying towards the ship. To him, it was redirect those beams, or die.

Carefully he shuffled closer to the edge, and activated his lightsaber. He saw the next two beams coming at them in slow motion. Instantly, he did what Yoda had taught them, and let the force take over. All of his fears suddenly went away. All that existed were those two beams coming at them, and the enemy ship that he wanted to hit. He moved his lightsaber into position, and then redirected both beams of light in rapid succession.

He watched in a daze as one beam disabled the guns on one side, and the other took out an engine.

The other ship went down.

Obi-Wan smiled happily—and then suddenly remembered where he was and completely panicked. He scrambled back from the edge, then slipped and fell… luckily, he fell _into_ the ship. Qui-Gon steadied him as he threw up again… not only once, but four times in a row. Maybe there _was_ more to throw up…

When he finished, the world was spinning more than ever. Distantly he heard Qui-Gon congratulating him. "Obi-Wan, we did it!...We _won_!"

He managed to smile weakly, before everything went black…

* * *

(A/N: Aww, poor Obi! I know that that chapter was long and boring (part of the reason why it took so long to write!) but I promise that in the next chapter, Obi-Wan is up to mischief again… Please R and R!)

-Hilary


	7. A Talk with Wuh'lin

(A/N: Okay, so I'm having problems with updating... Sorry again everyone! But at least I update once a week, right? I always have problems updating during the summer (oddly enough!) because weird, unexpected things happen that I don't plan for. I'm actually better at updating during the school season, because I have more of a schedule. Thank you all for putting up with me!)

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Talk with Wuh'lin**

When Obi-Wan woke up, he was in a room he didn't recognize. After a moment, he realized that it must be the hospital wing of the Temple, where people went when they got injured. He suspected that they had probably been trying to revive him. He peered around at the people there, trying to get his vision to focus.

There were a few young padawans like himself that appeared to have some kind of virus. Also, to his surprise, there were a lot of Jedi Knights there. Most had bruises and cuts, though one blue Twi'lek had a broken arm. A blur of green that Obi-Wan recognized as Kit muttered something to her that sounded suspiciously like 'Welcome to the Jedi Order.' Obi-Wan realized a moment later that these must be all of the Jedi that were injured in the race. He hoped fervently that they all blamed it on Qui-Gon.

Hold that thought—where _was _Qui-Gon? Obi-Wan scanned the room, but there was no sign of that particular Jedi. He grinned—Qui-Gon was most likely meeting with the Jedi Council right now. He was probably in _huge_ trouble.

Suddenly a voice right beside his ear said, "Ah, Obi-Wan, you're awake."

Obi-Wan jumped so high that he nearly fell off of the hospital bed that he was laying on. Qui-Gon stood directly behind the bed, smiling neutrally. Obi-Wan glared at him, slightly pouting. "Didn't you get into any trouble?"

"Trouble?" Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. "For what?"

"For…for getting everyone hurt! And for racing without permission! And—and for any damage you might have done to the temple!"

"No permanent damage was done to the temple. No one was hurt too badly, and the council was too busy to bother about unauthorized races. So therefore, I got off easy."

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and muttered, "No fair."

Qui-Gon laughed and, taking a hold of Obi-Wan's shoulder, steered him out of the room. As they walked through the twisting passageways, Qui-Gon filled Obi-Wan in on everything he had missed while he was unconscious. "Unfortunately, you missed your lessons," Obi-Wan brightened considerably, "But never fear, I picked up all of the assignments and homework you missed for you to do tonight."

"Goody. Thank you so much." Obi-Wan mumbled. Qui-Gon just had to ruin _everything_.

Finally, they made it back to Qui-Gon's quarters. Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan and explained, "I have to work on something, so I won't be around. _Don't_ get into any trouble. I'd suggest working on your homework. There's a _lot _of it." He motioned to a pile of data pads on the table. Obi-Wan's eyes went wide. It was nearly a _foot_ tall! He shot another glare at Qui-Gon, who shrugged. "Don't look at _me_; I'm not the one who assigned it all. If you have any trouble, seek me out. I'll probably be in the archives somewhere." He turned to go, and then stopped. "Also, I took in last night's homework to your teachers, and I didn't see any essay on ten planets with two facts about each. I think that when I get back, you have some explaining to do."

With that, Qui-Gon turned and walked out of the door. Obi-Wan just stood there for a moment, and then turned to his homework. With a groan, he started on the first assignment. What a lousy arrangement—he spent the whole morning throwing up, and now he had to do a bunch of school work. This was turning out to be a terrible day.

xxxxx

Hours later, Obi-Wan was still laboring over his school work. Most of it was stuff he knew and liked, but there were also harder things on subjects that took longer. Finally, he had everything done but a few essays. One of them he finished in no time. The other two, however, must have been something they learned about in class that day, because he didn't know anything on them.

After struggling with his memory for a little while, he decided to go down to the archives. He definitely wasn't going to ask Qui-Gon for help—_as if!—_but he figured he could probably find the information he needed down there.

It only took him a few minutes to gather everything up and make his way down to the archives. It was nearly empty today, and after creeping around for a little while Obi-Wan spotted Qui-Gon in a corner, deep in discussion with Jocasta Nu, who was in charge of the archives. Taking a mental note to avoid that corner, Obi-Wan walked to the other side and skimmed through the archives, searching for something on the history of Coruscant. A few seconds later he found what he wanted and read over it, committing it to his memory.

When he was sure that he knew what he was going to write, he turned and hurried away, intent on getting out without Qui-Gon spotting him. As he rounded a corner he nearly ran right into a male Twi'lek who was coming the other way. There was momentary confusion, and then the Twi'lek smiled and patted him on the head. "Sorry about that. What's the hurry?"

Obi-Wan lifted his gaze up and blinked innocently. "Nothing. I just can't wait to get back to work on my school stuff."

"Hmm. Have we met before? There's something oddly familiar about you." Obi-Wan shook his head. He was quite certain that they had never met… at least in his memory. The Twi'lek smiled and shrugged. "Perhaps you just reminded me of someone. I'm Wuh'lin, by the way." Held out his hand, and Obi-Wan stared at it.

Several moments passed, and then Obi-Wan stuttered, "W-Wuh'lin?"

The Twi'lek smiled again. "Yes, that's me. Is something wrong?"

"N-no! Of course not. I've just heard of you." _Wuh-lin… Wuh-lin was the one who wanted to go to Estéril with Qui-Gon!_ "You see," Obi-Wan quickly made up a story, "Qui-Gon Jinn is my personal hero," (he tried not to gag as he said this), "And I heard that you were one of his friends. Aren't you?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"_And_ I heard that Qui-Gon was going on a new mission to someplace called Estril…or something like that."

Wuh'lin just gazed at him for a moment before saying, "How did you hear about Estéril? That's confidential information that no padawan should know about."

_Oops._ "I…I heard it from an older Jedi. I guess I wasn't really _supposed_ to, but I couldn't help listening! I don't know much, though." He looked downcast, then suddenly brightened. "Could _you_ tell me more? I won't tell anyone that you did, I swear! I'm just _so _interested." He gave Wuh'lin another innocent but eager look.

Wuh'lin appeared to consider for a moment, before saying, "Well… I suppose it wouldn't really hurt if I told you a little bit more. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about it."

"I won't!"

Wuh'lin grinned. "Very well. Like I said, I can't tell you much, but there is a rebellion against the Jedi on Estéril. The Jedi Council has selected Qui-Gon to go undercover to root out the problem."

"All of the Jedi they could have picked and they decided on _Qui-Gon?_" Obi-Wan didn't exactly understand this. If there was a rebellion against the Jedi going on, why send _Qui-Gon? _He'd just make them hate the Jedi even more, right?

Wuh'lin cocked his head slightly. "I thought that Qui-Gon was your hero."

"Oh! Oh, right, he is, it's just…well," Obi-Wan forced his voice to sound worried and concerned, "What if he got _hurt_?"

Wuh'lin chucked. "Don't worry about that, Qui-Gon can take care of himself."

"But _apparently_ he can't keep control over a single, devious little padawan." A dry voice said from behind Obi-Wan. He gulped. _Uh-oh…caught again._

Wuh'lin looked up at Qui-Gon, confused. "Do you know this padawan? He claims that you're his personal hero."

Obi-Wan heard Qui-Gon laughing behind him, and his face grew red. He shot a glare at the male Twi'lek for letting the Jedi Knight know about his little lie. "Your _personal hero_? Really? I never knew. I'm sorry about this, Wuh'lin. I thought he was still back up in his room."

"His room?" Wuh'lin asked, confused.

"Ah, forgive him, he must have forgotten to introduce himself. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi, the padawan I've taken on this month. I believe you've heard of him?"

Wuh'lin smiled with surprise. "Obi-Wan? Really? _The_ Obi-Wan?" he looked down at the padawan and added, "Did you know that Qui-Gon was the one who named you? _I _wanted to call you Fabian, but apparently that was a _stupid_ name…"

"_You_ named me Obi-Wan?" the young padawan turned on Qui-Gon, who smiled amusedly and nodded. Obi-Wan glowered—he had just found yet another reason to not like Qui-Gon.

"Well, at least you aren't Fabian." Qui-Gon said reasonably.

"Fabian is a nice name!" Wuh'lin exclaimed in mock indignation.

Obi-Wan decided to take this time to sneak stealthily away, but without even looking in his direction Qui-Gon grabbed his shoulder. "Maybe sixty years ago it was!" He countered Wuh'lin, who just laughed.

Finally, Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan and said, "Now, young padawan, just how much did you squeeze out of Wuh'lin about the Estéril project? Your _personal hero_ wants to know."

* * *

(A/N: Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to update. The next one _should_ be soon… but then, I say that every time…don't I? ((grins guiltily)) 

Oh, also, someone said that they liked the story, but Obi-Wan doesn't really act much like Obi-Wan. I definitely agree… one of the things that happens in this story is that Obi-Wan slowly changes into the person he became. You should see small changes in him as this story goes along… if I write it well enough ;)Thank you for all of the reviews! And, for whoever asked, there probably _is_ going to be a sequel, (that involves one of the planets mentioned in the last chapter), but don't worry about the sequel yet… it's going to be a while until _this _one is finished :) Thanks again, everyone! Please R + R!)

Hilary


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